What appeared to be a devastating shoulder injury from a water park accident ultimately saved a man’s life after doctors discovered what they initially believed was a malignant tumor. The remarkable firsthand account, shared by Rabbi Moshe Weisbecker, has drawn widespread attention throughout the Olam HaTorah as a striking example of hashgachah pratis and the power of the brachos and tefillos of Gedolei Yisroel.

The extraordinary story was shared on the “Siach Yitzchok” hotline, which features Torah teachings and firsthand accounts involving Chaver Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein. Rabbi Weisbecker personally recounted the events in the hotline’s “Bedidi Hava Uvda” segment.

Rabbi Weisbecker, a son-in-law of Rav Ben Zion Goldberg-Yedler, is a respected avreich in Kollel Beis Dovid in Holon and the author of the sefer Lemaan Yaarichun on the halachos of honoring one’s parents.

Opening his account, Rabbi Weisbecker said that he felt compelled to share a deeply personal experience that demonstrated how every event in life is orchestrated by Hashem, even when everything appears to be falling apart. He said the story also illustrated the extraordinary power of the blessings and prayers of the Gedolei Hador.

Several weeks ago, while accompanying his Talmud Torah class on an annual trip to a water park, Rabbi Weisbecker was supervising students from the top of one of the park’s tallest water slides. Another member of the staff encouraged him to take a turn on the slide. Though initially reluctant, he confirmed the safety instructions with the operator, sat on a double inflatable tube to feel more secure, and began his descent.

Within moments, the tube became stuck near the beginning of the slide. He shouted repeatedly that he was trapped, but the sound of the rushing water drowned out his cries. Two fellow rabbeim waiting behind him heard him and warned the slide operator, but according to Rabbi Weisbecker, the operator insisted everything was fine and instructed them to continue.

Seconds later, another double tube carrying two staff members crashed into him with tremendous force. The collision flipped his tube and hurled him violently into the sides of the slide. Dazed and in excruciating pain, he managed to pull himself from the water before an emergency responder from United Hatzalah who was part of the group administered oxygen. He was then rushed by ambulance to Poriya Medical Center.

Doctors initially suspected internal injuries and ordered a CT scan, which revealed that he had fractured his collarbone. But while reviewing the scans, physicians noticed something far more alarming—what appeared to be a suspicious mass in his abdomen.

After consulting several specialists, doctors informed him that they believed he had a tumor in his intestine. Although they could not determine whether it was benign or malignant, they recommended immediate surgery to remove part of the intestine along with the growth. If the tumor proved to be cancerous, they explained, he would likely require additional treatment afterward.

The diagnosis plunged Rabbi Weisbecker and his family into an agonizing month filled with fear, uncertainty, sleepless nights, and constant anxiety as they awaited the operation.

Before proceeding with surgery, family members sought the guidance of Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, asking whether the operation should be performed on the eve of Tisha B’Av. Rav Zilberstein responded unequivocally that the surgery should go ahead, even on that day.

When the day of the operation arrived, Rabbi Weisbecker later learned that Rav Zilberstein had gathered the avreichim in his kollel in Holon to recite Tehillim with tears and offer heartfelt prayers for his complete recovery while the surgery was taking place.

Doctors had prepared for a lengthy operation to remove both the suspected tumor and part of the intestine. Instead, after only 74 minutes, the surgeon emerged from the operating room smiling and delivered astonishing news: there was no tumor.

The medical team discovered that the suspicious mass was actually a surgical sponge measuring approximately five centimeters that had accidentally been left inside Rabbi Weisbecker’s abdomen during an unrelated operation nine years earlier. Over the years, his body had formed a protective layer of tissue around the sponge, preventing serious complications. Only recently had an abscess formed around it, causing the scans to resemble a malignant tumor. When surgeons removed the sponge, they could still see the operating-room identification markings printed on it.

Doctors told Rabbi Weisbecker that the water park accident had likely saved his life. Had he not suffered the fall and broken collarbone, they never would have performed the CT scan that uncovered the hidden problem. Within days or weeks, they explained, the infection could have spread throughout his body, creating a life-threatening medical emergency before anyone knew it existed.

Looking back on the ordeal, Rabbi Weisbecker said the painful injury and frightening accident turned out to be the very events that saved his life. He expressed profound gratitude to Hashem for every step of the experience and credited the precise guidance, heartfelt prayers, and blessings of Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein with helping him emerge from the ordeal completely healthy.

{Matzav.com}